The Handsome Devil
by Aal38
Summary: I can't give up here. All of my hard work, all of my pain and suffering, all of the trials I've faced just to go out like this? No way. Rock Lee's final moments. My first fanfic! Please review!


_For a few long moments I was weightless, soaring while the wind whipped around me giving me a turbulence of speed. For a few long moments I convinced myself I was flying, my mind and body free of all my troubles. A thunderclap so loud that it rattled my teeth against each other tore me away from my false reality and back into the real world, where I was speeding towards the ground._

_With no energy left to protect myself, my back slammed into the ground with a large impact, spraying rocks, mud, and earth into the air, knocking the air out of me._

I opened my eyes.

The sky continued to weep, its tears turning the soft earth around me into a pool of mud. Lightning illuminated the dark sky, briefly granting me the view of the thousands of shinobi slowly making their way down the jagged mountain to me. I had maybe a minute before they would be upon me. My speed and endurance was the only thing that had kept me alive through this ambush. I silently thanked Gai-sensei for the continuous conditioning he led me through over the years. If not for him, I would have long been dead.

However, it seemed we all have our limits. Even with all my heart and spirit I put into the fight, I had hardly made a dent in them. Their overwhelming numbers forced me off the mountain to the edge of an open cliff when their powerful jutsus sent me flying to its base.

I struggled to keep conscious. A thick blanket of darkness seemed to be weighing me down, preventing me from standing. Fatigue was finally setting in. I let my face rest in the mud.

I sighed. This isn't so bad. The thought of resting felt good after all of the years I spent pushing myself past my limits.

I slowly began to close my eyes. I was pretty tired, it couldn't hurt to stop right here and let it end.

That was when realization struck me.

Tired?

_Fatigue?_

Since when has Rock Lee, The Leaf's Most Handsome Devil, ever been stopped by fatigue? Anger surged through me, giving me new strength. My eyes snapped open. I raised my head from the earth.

Gritting my teeth, I rolled over on my stomach and placed my hands on either side of my chest, almost like I was getting ready to do a pushup. The 13 year old me flashed in my mind.

I saw myself broken, covered in bandages and hindered by casts, but still working hard through my injuries. I remembered the pushups I did then, and the old pain flashed through me, not from the one-hundred and ninety-nine I did, but the one I never finished. The one I was too weak to do.

The pain of not being strong enough, good enough, woke me back up.

I screamed as I pushed myself out of the mud, but not from the pain.

I was so ashamed. How could I do that to myself? I've worked so hard my whole life just to stop here? I can't give up here. All of my hard work, all of my pain and suffering, all of the trials I've faced just to go out like this? No way.

My body collapsed and began to fall, but caught myself on my knees before I could fall back on the ground. I looked down and saw the blood from my injuries pooling in a puddle of the rain, swirling and creating a dark mixture with the earth and water.

I screamed again and gradually began to pull myself off the ground. The sky roared and protested, sending sheets of rain down. The higher I went, the harder the rain seemed to beat down on me. I gave a surge of strength and forced myself on my feet.

The shinobi were getting nearer. I could see the glint of their weapons reflecting the lightning in the sky.

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew I could run no longer. The blood loss was clearly taking its toll. His only choice was to fight, and against all these high-level shinobi, there wasn't much hope.

I grinned. I breathed in deeply. I mentally searched my brain for the lock in my head, searching through my imaginary halls and archives of memories. Upon finding it I was granted the memories of my days training with Gai sensei, feeling the sweat the stung my eyes and the heat that weighed me down, but the energy and youth that seemed to leak from every pore of my body as I fought to become strong.

I unlocked my first Gate. Energy coursed through me.

I looked down, disgusted with my body. It was such a weak vessel for containing me. I had much too much passion and drive. Even with my first Gate open, I felt my vision dim.

With considerable effort, I felt within me and opened the Gate of Rest. A cooling sensation flowed through my body, and I felt my strength return.

I bent down and removed the weights from my ankles. All of my years protecting the Hidden Leaf strengthened my love for my home. Without a doubt I was protecting those I love. I had no fear of breaking my promise to Gai-sensei.

I pushed on.

Gate of Life, open. A powerful green aura surrounded me, sending shockwaves of rain and mud flying away from me.

Fourth Gate of Pain, open. I howled as I felt my muscles beginning to tear. The shinobis slowed down as they approached arrived at the same ledge I was knocked from. The shinobi spread out in front of me, ready to leap into battle.

Fifth Gate of Closing, Sixth Gate of Joy. I could see the fear in their faces. Never in a million years would they have expected to see a ninja with only taijutsu summon so much raw power. I grinned.

Seventh Gate of Shock. A huge blast of hot air seemed to shake the whole mountain as I unlocked the gate. Several ninja were knocked off their feet.

I no longer felt the rain, my aura evaporated and drop that came near me.

I looked down. My skin, beet red, was pulsing with angry veins surging with chakra. I examined my hands, which were peeking through the bandages. The white material was slowly deteriorating from the heat of my aura. I slowly unraveled the ruined rags. My now naked hands proudly displayed the results of my training.

I swear I could still feel the wood from my many training posts splintering against my fists as I hammered into them day after day.

Standing tall, I slowly placed my right hand behind my back and my left out in front of me. A mighty roar erupted from the shinobis as they leaped down the rest of the mountain. The already dark sky was blotted out black by the silhouettes of fierce ninja.

Time slowed down. An eerie calm settled over me.

This day would be the day where I went down in history.

The day everyone would know The Handsome Devil of the Leaf.

This victory would put me past all other shinobi. Past Neji, past Naruto, past the Kages, even past Gai-sensei.

I owed myself that much. I shed too much blood and tears to accept anything less. I remember the day I officially became a ninja, the day I pledged to be the best at taijutsu in the world, and today was the day I would prove it.

Neji…

Tenten..

Gai-sensei..

Thank you.

I roared at the top of my lungs and plunged my index finger right above my heart and saw red.

_Eighth Gate of Death, Open._


End file.
